Reliance Infocomm on the prowl.

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Reliance Infocomm on the prowl

Source: Times Of India, March 09, 2004

ON BOARD AMBANI’S JET: It’s not easy to hold Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani’s attention beyond a few minutes, even if you have been promised a 20-minute interview in Mumbai. So, the next best thing is to hitch a ride on his Bombardier jet. Despite Ambani’s request for time alone on board to prepare for a short-notice meeting in Delhi — and a sumptuous lunch in between — one managed to get him talking on two favourite topics: telecom and biotechnology.

To begin with, Reliance Infocomm is looking at an acquisition in the telecom space and it could be on the lines of its recent takeover of Flag Telecom. Don’t expect anything in a hurry, though, as the move will take time.

Ambani added that within three years the market would be forced to provide data on mobiles — not just TV clips but making handsets into transaction tools. Reliance Infocomm, for instance, is working on buying rail tickets through mobiles. Later, Infocomm subscribers won’t need to carry plastic credit cards. Users’ PINs, possibly even for the ATM, will be fed into mobile itself to make phones transaction tools. Discussions are on with Railways, credit card companies and banks.

"Mobile phones today are like the bulb-stage of electricity," said Ambani. "Who could have imagined 100 years ago all that power enables today — computers, TV, Metros and so on. Similarly, everything will be digitised and there is so much to come."

Long term, Ambani said, "With the same RF (radio-frequency) engineering, for instance, you can have two chips on your body that can monitor it for various things. With the same infrastructure, you can impact all aspects of life."

Ambani was not keen to discuss Infocomm’s listing or offloading stake to strategic partner(s). He said it was a fully-funded project, with Rs 14,000-15,000 crore already invested."

"We keep getting offers and valuations range from $6 billion to 12 billion or more. Those reports are all there," said Ambani. "The full value of the company is not reflected yet. Infocomm’s distinction is that its infrastructure will last a 100 years," he added.

As for biotechnology, a lot seems to be happening at several locations in and around Mumbai, where scientists are busy working on various projects, away from the media glare.

It is a private initiative and Ambani didn’t want to share details. He said within 5-7 years, Reliance would supply building blocks for much that happens globally in this field. Plans are to own several lines of stem cells and work with global institutions and companies to build products.

"For example, we can take a cell from your heart and supply it (information, research and so on) to companies that will develop and deliver a new heart (muscles) for you. We will be just like Microsoft in IT, which supplies software but doesn’t build the entire system," said Ambani. Similarly, he talked about the possibility of taking hydrogen out of water and using it as the cleanest fuel.

"There are millions of possibilities in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Changing raw materials and supplying building blocks. We are positioning ourselves for that," said Ambani.

Edited March 11, 2004 by Ashokjp